Abstract

This paper presents a closed form solution to the portfolio adjustment problem in discrete time when the investor faces fixed transaction costs. This transaction cost model assumes a mean-variance investor who wants to adjust her holdings of a risky and risk-free asset. It is shown how this model can be calibrated to be used with a variety of risk models such as life cycle portfolio weights and value at risk (VaR) models. The decision problem can easily be inputted into and calculated in Excel.

By Linus Wilson, University of Louisiana at Lafayette and Yan Wendy Wu, Wilfrid Laurier University

abstract

From 2008 to 2009, the FDIC guaranteed hundreds of billions of dollars of newly issued bank debt through the Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program (TLGP). We find that CEOs making more than their peer groups were significantly more likely to steer their companies to obtain federal guarantees for their banks’ debt. The average bank in our sample with a debt guarantee had a CEO who was paid $1.6 million per year more than the average CEO in his or her peer group. In addition, there is strong evidence that large, systemically important banks were more likely to obtain FDIC debt guarantees.

This study looks at a unique data set of business school professors at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. It finds large disparities in pay between the business disciplines that cannot be explained by the market price of scholars in the disciplines, research productivity, or faculty to major ratios. The finance professors were the lowest paid of six disciplines as a percent of AACSB pay, but had the highest research productivity and majors per research faculty member at the Moody College of Business Administration (MCOBA). Finance professors were paid about 20 percent less as a percent of the AACSB average for their rank and discipline than other research faculty at the MCOBA. Members of the management department were paid significantly higher percent of AACSB average pay than other professors in the business school. This data may be indicative of a misallocation of resources. The approach in this paper could be applied to analyze pay practices at many other business schools and over many other time periods.

I know everybody knows what a great gig the crew of SV Delos and Sailing La Vagabonde has making weekly videos and sailing around the world. Unfortunately, most of the roughly 400 sailing vlogs on YouTube make next to nothing. Hey, its the movie business! Most actors don’t make as much a Brad Pitt either!

“This study finds that YouTube channels crowdfunding on Patreon have more frequent video creation. The median YouTube channel that crowdfunded on Patreon produced a video every 7.5 days compared to 105 days for the median comparable channel that did not link to Patreon. Crowdfunders have more views per video, are more likely to link to their Facebook pages, and uploaded videos more frequently. While two channels in the sample, each earned over $150,000 in 2016 from Patreon, the typical crowdfunding sailing channel earned $73 per video, per month, or creation. It appears that a little bit of money was associated with a big increase in new video production.”

I believe my study is the first academic study about this rapidly crowdfunding platform called Patreon.

The Finance Professor Podcast is hosted by Linus Wilson. Dr. Wilson earned his Ph.D. in 2007 from Oxford University. He has taught thousands of finance students at all levels. His research is in banking, financial crises, CEO pay, and corporate finance. He has been a source for over two hundred major news stories in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Financial Times, and other news organizations. He is a leading scholar on the TARP bank bailouts of the great recession.

I’ll be reading my academic research initially. Over time I may interview other scholars relevant to financial research.